The Call
by M. Marchand
Summary: One phone call changes everything.
1. Prologue

Disclaimers:  
"A vague disclaimer is nobody's friend" - Willow, Buffy the Vampire Slayer  
I do not own these characters nor do I have any rights to anything related to the TV show Numb3rs. I plead fair use and claim only my own writing and characters.

Acknowledgments:  
Omi as always.  
To everyone who loves a good hospital scene as much as I do

* * *

Prologue:

The phone rang.

"911. What is your emergency?"

"I... I think there's something wrong... ambulance... hurry..."

There was a loud noise on the other end then silence.

"Sir... Sir... Can you hear me?"

The dispatcher pulled up the caller's phone company records and connected to the ambulance service.

"Ambulance needed at 412 Rosalind Road Pasadena... Male caller is unresponsive... May be alone."

She looked again at her screen, noticing an additional notation.

"This household is denoted as being a family residence for a federal law enforcement agent. Name listed is Eppes..."


	2. Chapter 1

The Call 2/10

* * *

Chapter One:

The phone on Terry's desk rang.

"Lake," She answered. The blood drained out of her face as she took down the message.

"I'll find him. We'll be there. Thank you for calling."

With shaky hands she quickly dialed Don's cell phone number only to hear it ring in the charger on his desk.

"Damn."

Terry grabbed her coat and ran towards the door slowing down only long enough to yell to David, "I need you to find out what other agents Don went out on that interview with and I need their cell numbers now! Call my cell when you have them."

Before David could answer she was gone.


	3. Chapter 2

The Call 3/10

* * *

Chapter Two:

Alan's cell phone rang.

He and Art were in the middle of a good laugh, sharing stories about the past, and Alan almost didn't want to interrupt it with a phone call. But, having a son in the FBI meant being prepared for anything so he couldn't ignore it.

"Yello!" He said in to the phone cheerfully, having noticed Terry on his Caller ID.

His friend Art watched as his expression turned from laughter to shock and to panic.

"Are you sure? It's just... I'll be right there. No, I won't try to drive I'll have my friend Art drive me."

He glanced over at Art with a look of raw fear on his face.

Alan snapped the phone shut and both men rushed to the car.


	4. Chapter 3

The Call 4/10

* * *

Chapter Three:

Larry's office phone rang just as Amita was leaving.

She walked out into the hallway and headed back to Charlie's office to drop off the folders Larry had given her.

A few seconds later Larry burst out of his office running up behind her. He grabbed her arm and rushed her out of the building.

"Larry, what...?" She started to ask.

"It's Charlie."


	5. Chapter 4

The Call 5/10

* * *

Chapter Four:

Agent Miller's cell phone rang.

"It's for you, Don."

"Eppes," Don answered walking briskly back to the car.

Agent Miller saw Don stop suddenly and double over as if he'd had the wind knocked out of him.

"Yeah, I'm here. I'm on my way..."

Don stared at the phone for a second in disbelief, a dazed expression on his face.

"What is it?" Agent Miller asked.

"My brother... emergency room... Huntington Memorial..."

"I'll drive," Agent Miller offered. "Don't worry, I'll drive fast."


	6. Chapter 5

The Call 6/10

* * *

Chapter Five:

After what felt like an eternity the phone rang on the other end.

"911. What is your emergency?"

"I... I think there's something wrong... ambulance... hurry..."

Charlie tried to say more but his throat was rapidly closing up and he could hardly breathe.

He felt dizzy from lack of oxygen and tumbled to the floor, dropping the phone.

He stretched his arm out for it as he lie on the floor but it was just out of reach.

His eyesight started to dim, the world was turning gray and he feared no one would reach him in time.

"Please hurry..." his lips moved but made no sound.

And then all was dark.


	7. Chapter 6

The Call 7/10

* * *

Chapter Six:

Alan sat beside his son.

His baby boy, so angelic with his cherubic curls yet so still and pale as if he had gone to join the choir of angels already.

He held his son's hand and prayed.

Don sat beside his brother.

Always so energetic, even frenetic at times Charlie looked somehow wrong perfectly still. Don wanted to shake him, wake him, have him be Charlie again but he knew that wasn't going to work.

He held his brother's hand and blamed himself for not looking after him better.

Terry stood behind Don.

She'd laid her hands on Don's shoulders trying to offer some comfort but like Don, she couldn't look away from the pale figure in the bed before them and the machines that hummed and beeped around him.

She wrapped her arms around Don to hug him but knew it would not console him at all.

Amita sat on the floor in the corner.

She couldn't bear to look at Charlie. The Charlie she knew and loved was so full of life... She knew that hollow shell wasn't really him. She wondered where his beautiful mind was now and if it would ever return to her.

She put her head in her hands and sobbed.

Larry stood talking to Charlie's doctor.

He'd hoped that by amassing as many facts as possible he could blot out the thought of his friend lying unconscious in the bed just a few feet away. But words like 'prescription', 'anaphylactic', and 'intubate' barely registered with him. Only the phrase 'narrowly avoided tracheotomy' hit him and he suddenly felt weak in the knees.

Larry stumbled to a chair and sat mesmerized as Charlie's respirator inflated and deflated over and over again.


	8. Chapter 7

The Call 8/10

* * *

Chapter Seven:

Blackness and silence.

Then blackness and sound.

Then grey and more sound.

Then the pain hit.

Pain was good.

Pain meant he was still alive.

Sounds turned into voices.

Voices turned into Don's voice.

Don's voice calling to him.

"Hey buddy... come back to us..."

I'm coming, Don, Charlie thought to himself, his mind hazy. I'm coming...


	9. Chapter 8

The Call 9/10

* * *

Chapter Eight:

Charlie was choking.

"Don't fight it, son. Relax, let it breathe for you." His father's voice was calming but Charlie couldn't help but panic, afraid he couldn't breathe again.

Charlie heard Don's voice call out, "We need a doctor in here!"

Suddenly there were hands and lots of voices and someone was removing the tube that had been making him choke.

Charlie gulped in air; desperate for the freedom to breathe he'd been denied earlier, fearful he'd run out of oxygen again.

Soft but firm hands held him down, urged him to relax.

As oxygen poured into his lungs his vision began to clear.

"Dad... Don..." He tried to speak but little more than a croak came out. It hurt to speak but he had to talk to his family... He had to tell him he loved them...

"Shh..." His father stroked his forehead gently. "We're here. You're going to be okay. Just rest."

Don was standing over his bed holding his hand. Not since he'd been cradled to sleep by his mother as a child had Charlie felt so cared for and so loved. He wanted to just relax and let the feel of his family's hands comfort him but he couldn't rest just yet.

He motioned with his hand for something to write with. Don pulled out his notebook and pen and placed them carefully into Charlie's grasp.

'Love you' he scribbled and that was enough to push both men over the edge. Alan hugged his child and sobbed, "I love you too, son. I thought I'd lost you. I thought I'd lost you too."

Don simply squeezed Charlie's hand tighter and let the tears he'd been holding back finally flow.

He finally got up the strength to speak.

"Love you too, buddy."


	10. Epilogue

The Call 10/10

* * *

Epilogue:

"Amita will you quit hovering over me? I'm fine." Charlie had only been home for a few minutes and she'd been like a hummingbird running and fetching him things, covering him with an afghan, and making him put up his feet.

"She can't help it," Larry remarked as she fluttered out of the room again. "None of us can, Charlie. We're all just so happy to have you back."

"I'll second that," Don said carrying platters of food out from the kitchen.

"Here here!" Alan added, a few steps behind Don with more food.

"You know guys, they fed me at the hospital," Charlie protested. "I almost choked to death not almost starved to death." Charlie wanted to make light of the situation but the stares he got in response told him he wasn't going to get to joke his way out of this one.

Alan walked over to him and crouched at his feet. "Son, they fed you through a tube. You can't imagine how that feels as a parent to know your child is hurt so badly they can't even eat or drink much less speak."

Charlie's voice was still a bit raspy but at least he was back on solid food, well mostly solid food.

"But Dad..."

"No buts, Charlie. You may be almost thirty but today's your first day back from the hospital after almost dying from anaphylactic shock and until your doctor gives you a clean bill of health I'm the parent and I'm in charge."

"Fine, as long is it's not the same doctor who gave me the prescription that I had the allergic reaction to in the first place."

Alan gave up and walked off but Don came and took his place.

"Come on buddy, don't joke about this. You remember how hard it was with Mom." Charlie sobered up at the comparison, not wanting to think of his family in pain at his bedside as he had been with their mother. He looked away but Don pulled him back to look at him, taking his hand to get his attention. "We almost lost you, Charlie. So what if we want to fuss over you for a while. Let us. Let us be glad we didn't lose you."

Charlie couldn't speak and merely nodded.

"Here's another one," Terry returned from the front door with yet another floral arrangement. "This one's from the Burdick family." She handed the card to Charlie to read then placed the flowers with the others in the solarium.

Charlie looked at the card, looked around the room at his friends and family, then back at his brother.

"I'm glad too, Don. I'm glad too."


End file.
